Thursday, July 16, 2009

Dead, Abandoned and Pieced

The Trans Pennine Nomads (TPN) could rightly be considered to be the best writers crew in England, and a lot of their pieces co-exist with the rubble of the old Huncoat Power Station in Lancashire. Join me for a visual ride into them thar hills….

The disused power station at Huncoat (between Accrington and Burnley) is easily the best hidden graff den I’ve ever been to. Rubble and shit are everywhere, right next to stunning pieces from the TPN crew (and a few others). A visual overload, you don’t know where to look (actually I do know where to look….. look up for graffiti… and look down for that pit full of glass and old shoes that you are about to fall in….). Local taggers, toys and throwuppers also use the place, and being quiet and off the beaten track it’s a great place to practise and perfect. Take your time, have a can, and use your cans……

It’s not as difficult to find as you might think, and there is even an old sign to welcome you :-)

Crie and Pryme (local lad and founder of the TPN) are my two fave writers and as you duck down into the building one of their (relatively rough) joint pieces greets you. But there is far far more than that to come….

Despite all the advantages of being next to a colliery and railway line, the power station actually had a fairly short life, only working from 1956 to 1984. Most of it was demolished by 1990, apart from this one building. At some point it is due to be turned into a waste treatment plant.

The end wall of the central area is obviously an attention grabber, including for photography angles, as the suited characters hold the pieces out as canvases.

Small rooms abound everywhere, all with rubble and paint. It’s so peaceful, yet so loud, as glass crunches under your unsteady feet. Photography angles are everywhere, and old bits of the power station workings still live on (plus the toilets - I had a waz there rather than onto the rubble - it just felt right…)

A whitewashed separate room actually has the top pieces though. A Crie & Pryme collab on one wall, and Pryme’s collab with Riot 68 on the other. These are skills you don’t learn overnight; many of the best writers are approaching middle age now, and / or have come back into the game after time away in the 90’s.

There are also bits upstairs, and great views out over the Lancashire hills. It’s a bit weird actually, being in this bombed out wreck, yet such natural beauty being what seems like only an arms length away.

This Pryme (left) and Crie (right) collab is the main piece upstairs. [I’m sure you can easily now recognise who does which bit! They are so different yet it works together…]

But remember.....shuuuush... Don’t tell the toyz where the best spots are :-)